On the night of June 16, 2024, 31-year-old Ambrose Bowers of Altoona was found shot multiple times in the roadway near Front Street and Keystone Avenue in Cresson Borough. State police found him just before midnight; he was pronounced dead at 2:30 a.m. the next morning. An autopsy attributed the cause of death to massive blood loss from seven gunshot wounds, four to his back.

Events began earlier that evening at the Shovel Head Tavern on Front Street. Witnesses say Douglas B. Leap, 46, had been drinking and was cut off by the bartender, who was Bowers’ girlfriend. Leap allegedly made comments to another patron and suggested taking the disagreement outside; Bowers, who had arrived less than half an hour earlier, intervened. Bowers later told his girlfriend he had seen Leap walking up the road brandishing a pistol, and went toward his truck before being shot about a block and a half from the bar.

Leap was arrested the next day and charged with criminal homicide, aggravated assault, and recklessly endangering another person. Brass knuckles were reported near Bowers’ body and Leap’s attorney has asserted self-defense. A judge bound the charges over to the Court of Common Pleas and Leap remained held without bail as pretrial proceedings continued; the case was pending as of September 2026. Does anyone who knew Ambrose or was in Cresson that night have information to share?